Kitchen Remodel Day 13 - Elapsed Day 23

This is just to set the tone.  A snapshot of the ambiance around our home.  Piles of parts everywhere.





Somehow 9 turned into 11:30, but Saul showed up today and patched the two holes behind the refrigerator.  

Then he painted the cabinets.  I can't seem to get a good picture of "shine".  The sun went behind the clouds.

But take my word for it, they are VERY shiny!

He was out of here by 1:30.

See you on Saturday!









3:00 News Flash. 
The floor guys will NOT be coming tomorrow.

So now, if the granite is really ready, they could install it tomorrow and do the sink on Saturday, and floor on Monday!  Left word with Saul, but haven't heard back.

Meanwhile, I got the brown wall painted.

Kitchen Remodel Day 12 - Elapsed Day 22

Tuesday came and went, but Wednesday, just as I was getting ready to go to Art Class with Jo, Saul showed up!

Good news!  Granite is ready for installation Saturday!

He primered the base cabinets.  He used a face mask and air compressor and a big fan. 

As the room filled with white haze, I grabbed the bird and took my dinner outside to eat.





When I got home from class, the "brown wall" had been textured.  Now I can paint!


See you tomorrow between 8:30 and 9!

Kitchen Remodel Day 11 - Elapsed Day 18

Ha! Ha!  Fooled ya!

This is my finished "seasons" painting from one of Jo's "pattern packets".  It was originally done on heart shaped coasters, but I made it into one item.

From here it's hard to see the detail!  Maybe it should be bigger!!!  Can you find the bunny?

On to the next one!!!





Oh, just to keep with the theme, the floor install is scheduled for next Friday. It is called "Water Colour" Marmoleum (Lineoleum).

Seems I posted this too soon!  Saul and Saul Jr.  showed up about 4 and shortened the fan so that the cabinets can be taller.

OK, I'll see you Tuesday.

Kitchen Remodel Day 10 (Elapsed Day 16)

 Well, 7 o'clock came and went.

And 8 o'clock.

9 o'clock.

10 o'clock.

10:30 the granite guys came!

Bird is the official inspector.  She has to check out everything.

You can barely see them, but they laid out these thin balsa wood strips, maybe 3" x 8'.  They started at the center of the sink, and glued them with a glue gun across the front, hanging over like the granite will, across the back, along the edge by the door (there is an angle there, it comes out 16" and then angles in for 10").  Then they glued on cross pieces about every 3 feet.

Repeat for the stove side.  Repeat for the pass through.  And, gee, do you want the windowsill done?  Sure.

When they got it all done, they just popped it off the "ply"wood, and carried the pieces out to their truck.  Along with our new sink.  And they dropped off a piece of granite for Saul, and a small sink for him also.

11:10 bye bye!  See you in about a week.

11:45 Saul arrived.  Much earlier than yesterday, I must admit. 

I thought this was a good picture of Saul mudding the wall where the big hole was.

Saul:  OK, I need to talk to you guys.

You know I'm not one to add on things to my budget, but a few things have happened.

We added lights and a switch to the crawlspace (so he could see what he was doing).  $100
Jerry added the 220v receptacle for the heater we don't have yet.  $120 (not done yet)
Wallboard and a whole day fixing the wall that wasn't planned.  $100
Granite window sill:  TBD
Plumbing leak fix:  TBD
Final electrical parts costs:  TBD

OK!  But how about the threshold into the bathroom?  And a new gas service line for the stove?

I still feel like we're getting our money's worth.  Tomorrow (or maybe the next day) he's going to see if he can raise the fan (see that little stub between the ceiling and the fan?)  If he can move that up, then the wall cabinets can be taller.

Since I want my cabinet doors inset, they won't have the soft close hinges.  That's OK.

Meanwhile the floor guy has called twice, and I tried to call him this afternoon to see if he could do the floor tomorrow.  He's gone for the day.  Guess not.

Kitchen Remodel Day 9 (Elapsed Day 15)

My new kitchen!

Wednesday is Art Class day, and Jo and I were just leaving as Saul drove up at 4:45.

I THOUGHT both he and the granite guys were coming today, but I knew we weren't ready.

When I got home from class, this is what I saw.

 Saul delivered.  He and Jerry wrestled the big cabinets in through the front door.  Well, after both the door and the screen were removed from the hinges.  The only way to get them into the kitchen was through the pass through!

The board on the stove is the little bit of cabinet for the door side of the stove.

They look huge.  It's hard to get a good picture of how big they are.

Yep, the back door still opens.

The insides are all papered off, but it's a nicely finished plywood.  Very smooth.

Along with the cabinets Saul picked up and delivered our new HUGE sink.

Along with all the goodies that came with it.

Racks, cutting board, colander.

Woohoo!

Just one little ooopsie.  The gas line is too close to the cabinet.  It needs to be moved over 2 inches.

But the floor is level!  He didn't have to shim the new cabinet, it fit flat to the floor the whole way back!  Yeah, Saul.

So Saul left about 7:30 p.m. saying that the granite guys would be here early.  Between 7 and 7:30 a.m.  And he would be back early.

Kitchen Remodel Day 8 (Elapsed Day 14)

Today I took advantage of Jo's planned "garden day" to go to the nursery with her to get some new kale plants, and some others I couldn't pass up.

Much more fun than waiting for Saul.

But he did show up about 2, and got this side of the kitchen dry walled.

Notice how all the electrical boxes line up!  Way to go, Saul!

I must be misunderstanding something, because I thought the base cabinets needed to be installed before the granite could be measured, but I must be mistaken.

According to my calculations two walls need a second coat of mud, the plumbing needs to be fixed and at least the under sink electrical needs to be finished before the cabinets go in.

Saul says he'll be here tomorrow afternoon, when the granite guys come.  It may be a very interesting day!

Today I got to figure out how to cook without a sink.  I used a recipe I learned at Healthy Taste of LA on Sunday.  You just throw everything in the slow cooker.  I mean everything.  Well, you do take the skin off the onion first, but it goes in whole, the carrots go in whole, the celery goes in whole.  I peeled the sweet potato before it went in whole.  I added some black eyed peas and some water and a can of tomatoes and set it to cook.

Jerry rigged up the big water cooler on the little table by the front door.

After the soup cooks, you take the immersion blender and moosh it all up!  And then I threw in some brown rice for good measure.  Sure smells good!

Kitchen Remodel Day 7 (Elapsed Day 13)

After waiting all day, Saul showed up about 4 to remove the sink.

Too bad when he did that, the plumbing decided to leak.  One more thing to fix.

Wonder why the floor under the dishwasher and the old tile is wet?  Could that have been leaking for a long time?  Also has a very weird smell...

AND, when he took the wall cabinet down, there is a huge hole in the wall that now needs to be dry walled.

The sink plumbing leaks.

The switch is taken apart to change the garbage disposal switch to a chrome push button!

Jerry the Genius figured out some temporary counter space.  Makes it much easier to cook.

This is what our kitchen outlets look like now.

Kinda hard to plug things in.